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Nick Carter – CV

Summary and key involvements

Executive Chairman of Prospect – the economic development company for and Leicestershire – charged with regeneration, inward investment, business innovation and support and driving economic growth. This role involves extensive partnership working and networking across private, public and third sectors – including senior level liaison with universities, health service providers, local authorities and Government agencies.

National and international consultant on media, communications and cohesion - with particular reference to the reporting of diversity and inequality.

Worked with Media Diversity Institute at conferences and seminars for media decision makers in (2004 & 2010), Vienna (2005), Prague (2009), Rabat (2009), (2010), London.

Worked with British Council on community cohesion conferences in Vienna (2004) and Manchester (2009).

Worked on major Government-funded project 2008/9 advising English local authorities on how they could work more effectively with local media to promote positive views about cohesion and migration issue. Worked with authorities in Reading, Breckland (Norfolk), Leeds, Barnsley, Dudley and Boston (Lincs).

In January, 2004, was invited to give evidence to the Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee of the House of Commons on the role of the media in community cohesion.

Chair, Leicester and Leicestershire Multicultural Advisory Group. In 2001 started what is now the city's Multicultural Advisory Group, comprised of senior figures from all communities who meet to consider and advise on diversity and cohesion issues. The group has received international recognition for its ground-breaking work in bringing local media to the table alongside public and private sector. He is currently chair of that group.

Editor in Chief and a director of the Group from June 1993 to February 2009, was previously editor of the South Evening Post, in , South Wales. The Leicester Mercury was named UK Regional of the Year in 2001, and was shortlisted in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2008.

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Member, Society of Editors 1987- to date. Involvements include chair of Parliamentary and Legal Committee, key lobbying group with Government on issues including media freedom and regulation, freedom of information, police and judiciary relations.

Member of the Home Office Media Practitioner Group 2002-4. This group was set up in the wake of the disturbances in northern cities in 2001 and charged with addressing the role of the media in cohesion. Had a key role in the commissioning and content of the Reporting Diversity booklet, aimed at guiding the work of journalists in covering all aspects of diversity in the UK. Published 2005 by the Society of Editors, Media Trust and funded by the Home Office. Lives in the centre of Leicester and is closely involved in issues surrounding the development of the city and county, particularly regarding the diversity of Leicester, its communities and the challenges they face. Joint honours degree in history and politics from Warwick University, 1971-4.

Current involvements: Leadership Board, Leicester and Leicestershire Economic Partnership Leicestershire Business Council. Health Inequalities Board, Leicester. Stronger Communities Partnership, Leicester. Executive Board, Management Partnership. Strategic Board, Leicester City Centre Management Partnership. Media Forum, Leicester City Centre Management Partnership. Strategic Advisory Board, G-STEP (commercial applications of earth observation data). Leicestershire Advisory Group, Common Purpose. Chair, Universities Strategic Collaboration Group for Leicester and Leicestershire. Chair, Leicester Multicultural Advisory Group. Joseph Rowntree Foundation Project Advisory Group: Postcode discrimination in employment Advisory board, Institute for Community Cohesion. Parliamentary & Legal Committee, Society of Editors (chairman 1997-99). Fellow of the Royal Society for the support of Arts, Manufactures and Science (FRSA).

World Association of

Previous involvements Social and Community Regeneration sub group, Leicester Regeneration Company

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Prince's Trust board member for Leicestershire and . 2003-2008 Chair of the Mercury Action Trust 2001-2009. Member of the Home Office Media Practitioner Group 2002-4. Member, Leicester City Centre Forum Founder member: Leicester Vision Group Patron: Coping with Cancer

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Full CV

BORN: 26.9.52 at Hayes, Middlesex FAMILY: Wife - Tracy Children (by previous marriage) Zoe (born 1980) Richard (1983)

EDUCATED: Watford Boys Grammar School University of Warwick: 1971-4 Joint Honours degree in History & Politics. CAREER Joined Thomson Regional Newspapers as a graduate trainee in August 1974. Attended TRN course in .

January 1975-April 1977: Evening Mail, Uxbridge. Junior Reporter. Senior Reporter. Windsor District reporter. Heathrow Airport Correspondent.

April 1977- December 1982: Evening Post, Reading. Senior Reporter. Sub Editor. Assistant Chief Sub Editor. Deputy Chief Sub. Chief Sub Editor. Attended TRN Design and Layout course in 1979. Management course in 1981. While Chief Sub Editor, the Evening Post won the Alan Hutt Award for design in the UK Press Awards.

January 1983-April 1987: , Cardiff. Assistant Editor, responsible for features and campaigns. Deputy Editor from 1 March 1985. During final year at Echo, was responsible for introduction of computer input technology for editorial operation.

April 1987 - June 1993: , Swansea. Editor and Director of Swansea Press Limited (Publishers of Post). In 1987 and 1990, the Post won the Newspaper Society award for being the fastest growing regional newspaper in the UK. Member, Prince of Wales Committee, South West Wales Group Member, West Wales Committee, Institute of Welsh Affairs. Member, West Glamorgan Enterprise Trust. Member, Executive Committee, Swansea Business Club. Vice President: Morriston Hospital League of friends. Trustee: West Glamorgan Red Cross.

June 1993 – February 2009: Leicester Mercury Media Group. Editor-in-Chief and Director. As Editor I was responsible for the editorial content, direction and development of the newspaper and its website. I was also responsible for the editorial budget (circa £3m). I led a team of 85 journalists to produce four editions of the Leicester Mercury, six days a week.

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As a director of the company I took part in board meetings and was involved in all the key decisions affecting its development. From 1993, under my editorship, the Mercury established itself as one of the largest and most successful regional titles in the country – winning national and international recognition for its responsible approach to coverage of the diversity of Leicester and Leicestershire.

The newspaper developed a unique position as a determined supporter of the regeneration of the city and county and built a succession of partnerships with key organisations in the public and private sectors. As editor, I developed and maintained a network of contacts and relationships with major decision-makers and opinion-formers across the area. Under my editorship the Mercury retained its position as the sixth largest selling regional newspaper in England and the largest title in – the provincial arm of the Daily Mail and General Trust. We also, in 2007, overtook the Birmingham Evening Mail to become the largest title in the Midlands. From 2006 I was also responsible for the editorial content of thisisleicestershire, the Mercury’s website. This is now the third-largest website in the Northcliffe group. In 2000 I started the Mercury Action Trust, a charity that aims to provide small grants to facilitate the work of small voluntary and charity organisations in local communities. This met a need identified through the newspaper’s Community Action programme which helps to raise the profile of the voluntary sector. In 2001 I started what later became the Leicester Multicultural Advisory Group, bringing together local media with representatives of key organisations, public and private, to discuss issues affecting the cohesion of our communities. This group has received national and international recognition and continues to play an important role in the thinking behind the development of the city. I managed a number of major internal reorganisation projects. These are the four largest: 2000: Introduction of Tera publishing system. This involved a complete change of our operating system and the retraining of 120 journalists.

2001: Relaunch of redesigned Leicester Mercury. This involved working with research agencies on brand development, recruitment of an international designer to develop the new image, followed by the retraining of key staff before launch. Following this relaunch the newspaper won the Newspaper Society Regional Newspaper of the Year 2001.

2006: Taking responsibility for thisisleicestershire. Until this time all the group’s newspaper websites had been managed centrally. This project involved taking direct daily control of the website and its content.

2007: Upgrade of Tera operating system. This once again involved project planning and retraining for a substantial change in how we produced the newspaper. Again, there was no disruption to our publishing cycle. Nick Carter key involvements and CV April 2011

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In 1998 I spent four weeks on a Northcliffe group project researching the future of newsroom organisation in the light of the growth of multi-media, visiting sites in Italy and America.

In 2008 the Leicester Mercury was named in the EU top 30 list of newspapers working to improve community cohesion.

February 2009 – to date: Prospect Leicestershire. Executive Chair

Under my chairmanship this economic development company secured £20million of public sector funding in order to build two new innovation centres in Leicestershire and started work on a major development project around Leicester railway station. Most of this funding was pulled back following the General Election of May 2010, but £4million was retained and the innovation centre at will be completed by June 2011.

I led a sustained campaign to encourage the sub-region’s three university to collaborate around graduate employment and business start ups. This has developed into a major funding proposal aimed at improving graduate placement in business and graduate retention and employment generally.

The company has developed a new marketing approach to raise awareness of the sub region as a relocation destination for business and Government departments.

The company has led on the creation of a property strategy for Leicester’s emerging Cultural Quarter.

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Nick Carter - Personal Information:

Date of Birth: 26th September 1952

Address: 3 Castle Street, Leicester, LE1 5WN.

Contacts: Telephone: 0116 242 5627

E-mail:[email protected]

Interests: Social regeneration/cohesion/media

Football (Leicester City)

History

Cooking

Woodworking

Wine

Films

Nick Carter key involvements and CV April 2011